Terms Used In Louisiana Revised Statutes > Title 6 > Chapter 4 - Prohibited Practices; Sanctions

• Administrator: means any person, except an employee of an administrator, who directly or indirectly solicits or effects coverage of, underwrites, collects charges or premiums from, or adjusts or settles claims on residents of this state in connection with debt waiver or debt forgiveness agreements. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 6:969.6
• Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
• Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
• Amount deferred: means the cash price subtracting any down payment under a consumer credit sale, plus any other amounts for goods or services including without limitation, any negative equity trade-in allowance, insurance, extended warranty, service contract, and other fees and charges that are financed by the extender of credit under the transaction, and included in the principal balance of the consumer's indebtedness subject to credit service charges. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 6:969.6
• Amount financed: means the amount borrowed under a consumer loan, plus any other amounts for goods or services including without limitation, any negative equity trade-in allowance, insurance, extended warranty, service contract, notary fees, license, title, filing and lien release fees, and other fees and charges that are financed by the extender of credit under the transaction, and included in the principal balance of the consumer's indebtedness subject to loan finance charges. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 6:969.6
• Appraisal: A determination of property value.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Association: means a savings association, thrift institution, homestead, building and loan association, savings and loan association, or society, including both capital stock and mutual associations. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 6:703
• Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. ^{Source: OCC}
• Capital stock association: means an association, not in the mutual form, having capital stock ownership. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 6:703
• Cash price: means the price for which the seller would have sold the motor vehicle to the consumer and the consumer would have bought from the seller if such sale had been a sale for cash instead of on credit. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 6:969.6
• Commission: means the Louisiana Motor Vehicle Commission. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 6:969.6
• Commissioner: means the commissioner of financial institutions, of the state of Louisiana, in his capacity as supervisor of associations. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 6:703
• Consumer: means a natural person who enters into a consumer loan or consumer credit sale of a motor vehicle to be used primarily for personal, family, or household purposes. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 6:969.6
• Consumer credit sale: means the sale of a motor vehicle on credit under which the seller acquires a purchase money security interest in the purchased vehicle, and incident to which a credit service charge is charged and the consumer is permitted to defer all or part of the purchase price or other consideration in two or more installments excluding the down payment. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 6:969.6
• Consumer loan: means a loan of money or its equivalent made by a lender, the proceeds of which are used by the consumer to purchase or refinance the purchase of a motor vehicle, or which proceeds are used for personal, family, or household purposes, including debts created by the use of a lender credit card, revolving loan account, or similar arrangement, as well as insurance premium financing, with the lender acquiring a purchase money security interest in the purchased motor vehicle. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 6:969.6
• Contract: means the consumer's retail installment contract, note, agreement, or other evidence of indebtedness executed in connection with a motor vehicle credit transaction. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 6:969.6
• Contract rate: means the interest rate factor applied to compute precomputed interest or simple interest under the transaction. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 6:969.6
• Credit service charge: means the sum of the following:

  (i)  All charges payable directly or indirectly by the consumer and imposed directly or indirectly by the seller as a requirement of the extension of credit, including any of the following types of charges that are applicable: interest; time price differential; service; carrying or other charge, however denominated; points and discount fees; and premium or other charge for any guarantee or insurance protecting the extender of credit against the consumer's default or other credit loss. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 6:969.6

• creditor: means a seller in a consumer credit sale, or a lender in a consumer loan. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 6:969.6
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• debt forgiveness: is a n agreement whereby an extender of credit agrees with the consumer to waive any unpaid balance on a consumer loan, consumer credit sale or lease due to physical damage, total loss or constructive loss or unrecovered theft to the covered collateral secured by an eligible security device. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 6:969.6
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Down payment: means an amount, including the value of any property used as a trade-in, paid to a seller to reduce the cash price of a motor vehicle purchased under a consumer credit sale. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 6:969.6
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
• Federal Reserve System: The central bank of the United States. The Fed, as it is commonly called, regulates the U.S. monetary and financial system. The Federal Reserve System is composed of a central governmental agency in Washington, D.C. (the Board of Governors) and twelve regional Federal Reserve Banks in major cities throughout the United States. ^{Source: OCC}
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• Finance charge: The total cost of credit a customer must pay on a consumer loan, including interest. The Truth in Lending Act requires disclosure of the finance charge. ^{Source: OCC}
• Fixed Rate: Having a "fixed" rate means that the APR doesn't change based on fluctuations of some external rate (such as the "Prime Rate"). In other words, a fixed rate is a rate that is not a variable rate. A fixed APR can change over time, in several circumstances:
  • You are late making a payment or commit some other default, triggering an increase to a penalty rate
  • The bank changes the terms of your account and you do not reject the change.
  • The rate expires (if the rate was fixed for only a certain period of time).
• GAP coverage: means a contract or insurance policy that covers a consumer's deficiency balance between the net payoff of the consumer's loan retail installment sales contract at the time of a loss and the amount paid by the consumer's primary insurance after a vehicle is deemed a total loss due to any direct or accidental physical damages or unrecovered theft which may be in the form of the following:

  (a)  Guaranteed auto protection offered by a property and casualty company licensed and regulated by the Department of Insurance. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 6:969.6

• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Insurer: means an insurance company licensed, registered, or otherwise authorized to do business under the insurance laws of this state. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 6:969.6
• Interest rate: The amount paid by a borrower to a lender in exchange for the use of the lender's money for a certain period of time. Interest is paid on loans or on debt instruments, such as notes or bonds, either at regular intervals or as part of a lump sum payment when the issue matures. ^{Source: OCC}
• Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). ^{Source: OCC}
• Lender: means the originator of credit under a consumer loan, as well as any assignee or transferee of the consumer's contract. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 6:969.6
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Loan finance charge: means the sum of the following:

  (i)  All charges payable directly or indirectly by the consumer and imposed directly or indirectly by the lender as a requirement of the extension of credit, including any of the following types of charges that are applicable:  interest, and any amount payable under a point, discount, or other system of charges, however denominated. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 6:969.6

• Manufactured home: means a structure, transportable in one or more sections, which, in the traveling mode, is eight body feet or more in width or forty body feet or more in length, or, when erected on site, is three hundred twenty or more square feet, and which is built on a permanent chassis and designed to be used as a dwelling with or without a permanent foundation when connected to the required utilities, and includes the plumbing, heating, air-conditioning, and electrical systems contained therein. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 6:969.6
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Motor vehicle: means any new or used transportation device, including automobiles, motorcycles, trucks, and other vehicles that are operated over the public highways and the streets of this state, but does not include traction engines, boat trailers, road rollers, implements of husbandry, and other agricultural vehicles. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 6:969.6
• Motor vehicle credit transaction: means a consumer loan or a consumer credit sale involving a Louisiana consumer, or that is otherwise made subject to this Chapter. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 6:969.6
• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• Open-end credit: A credit agreement (typically a credit card) that allows a customer to borrow against a preapproved credit line when purchasing goods and services. The borrower is only billed for the amount that is actually borrowed plus any interest due. (Also called a charge account or revolving credit.) ^{Source: OCC}
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• Person: means an individual or corporation, partnership, limited liability company, trust, association, joint venture pool, syndicate, sole proprietorship, unincorporated organization, or any other form of entity not specifically listed herein. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 6:969.6
• Precomputed transaction: means a motor vehicle credit transaction under which loan finance charges or credit service charges are computed in advance over the entire scheduled term of the transaction and capitalized into the face amount of the contract. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 6:969.6
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• Recourse: An arrangement in which a bank retains, in form or in substance, any credit risk directly or indirectly associated with an asset it has sold (in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles) that exceeds a pro rata share of the bank's claim on the asset. If a bank has no claim on an asset it has sold, then the retention of any credit risk is recourse. ^{Source: FDIC}
• Seller: means the seller of a motor vehicle, including the seller of a motor vehicle under a consumer credit sale, as well as any assignee or transferee of the consumer's contract. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 6:969.6
• Simple interest transaction: means a motor vehicle credit transaction under which loan finance charges or credit service charges are assessed by application of a contractual simple interest rate or rates to the unpaid principal balance of the contract. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 6:969.6
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Stock: means capital stock of a capital stock association. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 6:703
• Stockholder: means the owner of one or more shares of any class of capital stock of a capital stock association. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 6:703
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• Truth in Lending Act: The Truth in Lending Act is a federal law that requires lenders to provide standardized information so that borrowers can compare loan terms. In general, lenders must provide information on ^{Source: OCC}
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.